Red Bull will be the team to beat at Belgian GP on Sunday: Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso reckons Red Bull will be the best team on track this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Sebastian Vettel qualified over a second clear of Fernando Alonso at the technical Hungaroring circuit keeping in mind the Spaniard finished in front of Sebastian Vettel in the race. Although Spa-Francorchamps requires a very different strategy as compared to Hungaroring, Fernando could not find a reason that Red Bull will lose their advantage over McLaren and Ferrari.
"I don't see how they would lose a one second advantage since Hungary, but this race and in fact the next one at Monza, requires special low downforce with small wings for less drag and it will be interesting to see who makes the best job of running this configuration," he said.
Fernando Alonso joined Formula 1 in 2001 with Minardi before joining Renault who signed him for 2003. Alonso won his first race that season and impressed the critics with his outstanding performance keeping in mind his team did not seem very strong. The Spaniard won the Championship with 133 points with the help of 7 wins, 15 podiums and 6 poles in 2005 and continued this dominance in the following year by winning his second championship in 2006 with 134 points. Alonso was the first driver to beat Michael Schumacher in the drivers’ standings after a gap of 5 years. The two-time world champion joined McLaren in 2007 and had a great season again as he finished third in the drivers’ standings with 109 points. Fernando got involved in a lot of controversies during his time in McLaren which is why Alonso had to leave the team in the following year. The Spaniard joined Renault again before joining Ferrari in 2010. Fernando Alonso has been outperforming his teammate Felipe Massa since he joined Ferrari this year.
Fernando is in 5th place, just 20 points behind championship leader Mark Webber who has a total of 161 points. Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button are at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots respectively ahead of Fernando Alonso. With just 7 races remaining, the Spaniard hopes to win the title for the 3rd time in his career.
Fernando believes that the team has improved the car since the Hungarian Grand Prix and made a very competitive package for the race. The Spaniard is aware that it’s going to be very tough as Red Bull will be strong in every race and McLaren will be strong in tracks like Spa and Monza.
However, the former world champion believes the team has the pace to fight for the championship and the race this weekend as Ferrari has enjoyed great success at this circuit in the past. Fernando wanted to be positive about the future and focus on the coming races. In order to win, the team will have to trust the work they are doing and have faith in themselves. That would enable the team to maintain their momentum. Therefore, there is no reason to be pessimistic.
Alonso stated that his team has a 50% chance of winning the race and said the race can go either way. If Ferrari fares well in the remaining seven races, the team can win the championship. However, if others perform better, then Ferrari will win as the team is starting from scratch with a minor difference in points amongst the top drivers. Ferrari is taking this as a mini seven-week championship.
"Of course, luck will be a factor, as you always need to be lucky. For example, it could rain for this race and then you need to make the right choice in terms of the decisions you make and when you make them”, the 29-year-old added. It is important to bring maximum improvements to the car, as the competition starts in the factories and ends on the tracks. In order to be quicker than the rest of the teams, experiments and developments are very important.
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